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Zinger
Zingers are one of the most recognizable enemies in the Donkey Kong Series. They are common, pestering enemies in many levels. They have many forms since their debut in Donkey Kong Country. Description Zingers heavily resemble wasps but are much larger, reaching the size of Diddy Kong. Instead of compound-eyes, they only feature 2 massive eyes closely joined together. A prominent stinger can be found at the tip of their abdomens while a set of usually smaller stingers line up the back of said abdomens. Zingers have a pair of antennae, wings, mandibles and three pairs of legs, however the full-grown adults are never seen using their legs for any purpose whatsoever (including for walking), even in official rendered artwork. Due to the stingers covering a large portion of their bodies, Zingers cannot be defeated with a normal jump attack or a roll/cartwheel from the Kongs. The slightest contact will defeat a Kong in the DKC trilogy, though in later games the heroes were given more health to help deal with this problem. They can only be defeated with the use of Barrels, cannonballs, some Animal Buddies, or the weapons that were introduced in Donkey Kong 64. Zingers come in many different color swaps in the original DKC and even more so in its GBA remake. They all share the durability of the basic yellow Zingers, except for the Red Zingers. There is a robot variant known as the Mecha-Zingers. Zingers are seemingly eusocial insects, with the first two games in the DKC series indicating the species are ruled by a pair of larger Zingers, the Queen B. and King Zing, who are encountered as bosses separately. The Zingers were eventually revealed to naturally live within massive hives. Though never explicitly stated, it is likely that only the Queen is able to produce more Zingers (with the assistance of King Zing). History ''Donkey Kong Country/Land ''|thumb]] Zinger's first appearance was in the original ''Donkey Kong Country. Here, they were annoying, very common enemies found throughout DK Island, including the arctic region known as Gorilla Glacier. Zingers were mostly stationary and could only be defeated with the aid of a Barrel or Animal Buddy. In most cases however, Donkey and Diddy Kong had no choice but to avoid these enemies in many levels. Queen B. appears in the game as the boss in Vine Valley, and could summon fellow Zingers in the Game Boy Advance remake. Most Zingers in Donkey Kong Country are yellow, but other colors affect their flying trajectory: * Yellow Zingers have a vertical trajectory; * Orange Zingers have either a horizontal trajectory or remain stationary; * Pink Zingers have a circular trajectory; * Green Zingers have a crescent trajectory. Zingers were essentially the same in DKC's follow up, Donkey Kong Land, aside from color degrading due to limitations. Despite the sheer number of Zingers and the presence of a Queen, no structure that could be considered a home for them was ever seen. Although Queen B. is found in the hollow interior of the banana hoard she was guarding for K. Rool, it was evidently not a place fit for her kind. It was only in the sequel were the origin and natural habitat of the species became known. ''Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest/''Land 2 Zingers would return in DKC 2 sporting a slightly altered appearance. The most notable difference are their legs and mandibles, both of which are now yellow instead of brown. Their abdomen have a smooth surface instead of their prior irregular shape. Active Zingers are now found in two color variations only: the standard yellow and the highly durable red type, with the latter being resistant to all Animal Buddies and barrels. Only TNT barrels can defeat them. It is in this game that the Zingers' ecology was revealed. The species originate from Crocodile Isle, where they live within massive hives mostly found in the island's region of Krazy Kremland. Due to their placement in what is evidently an amusement park of artificial origin, it can be assumed the Zingers infested the area and made their home there with or without the Kremlings' consent. A single hive can also be found in the Gloomy Gulch region. These hives are presumably built by the Zingers themselves using a form of wax, and the interiors are filled with an overwhelming amount of oozing honey. Numerous honeycomb chambers cover the background wall and though many of these are empty, there are some which contain: * Pulsating Zinger larvae * Chambers entirely sealed-off by a hardened orange substance. These likely contain Zingers in their pupal state. * Young adult Zingers with only their heads and legs in view, the rest of their bodies partially covered with the hardened substance they've managed to tear through. The hives are where infant Zingers are nurtured and grown before they eventually fly out to either stay and defend the hives or leave to the outside world (presumably to search for food). Their range of exploration appears to be limitless, as Zingers are seen throughout the entirety of Crocodile Isle all the way to DK Island from the first game. Queen B. likely left her home island to colonize and spread her kin while her spouse, the more powerful King Zing, stayed behind to continue reigning as the boss of Krazy Kremland. The visual differences between the Zingers of both islands may thus result from adaptations. By the end of the game, the whole Crocodile Island sinks to the depths of the sea. Zingers return in the game's semi-sequel Donkey Kong Land 2, not changed much. They still have their hives and their king, risen above by Kaptain K. Rool, before the island is sunk again. ''Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!/Land III Zingers were absent from the 3rd installment in the ''Donkey Kong Country and Land series, and replaced by the very similar functioning Buzzes. Buzzes retain the Zinger's commonness, annoyance, and even similar functioning colors, with red buzzes being invincible, however the green Buzzes are the "normal" ones. The Zingers are likely to be missing due to the events of the last two games, in which their Queen and King were defeated and their natural habitat destroyed, drastically reducing their numbers. ''Donkey Kong 64'' Zingers returned in Donkey Kong 64. Zingers here were not as common or annoying, as they can be defeated much easier with the Kongs' new weapons introduced in this game, given by Funky Kong. A new type of Zinger, Mecha-Zinger, appears in the level "Frantic Factory", and are harder to defeat. Earlier on, Zingers generally charge at the Kongs on sight (especially in Donkey Kong Island, Jungle Japes, and near the entrance of Angry Aztec), but as the game progresses, starting with Angry Aztec, Zingers can drop green orange grenades making them the second enemies in the game to do so. The first being the overweight Klumps. ''Diddy Kong Pilot'' (2003 build) Zingers are usable items in the 2003 build of Diddy Kong Pilot. These are items that players may send behind him/her to make the Zingers get in the way of the other planes, making those planes collide into the Zingers. ''Donkey Kong Racing'' A trailer for the now canceled Donkey Kong Racing suggested the Zingers were going to be rideable as Donkey Kong and Taj were racing each other in a forest-like area on Zingers. |thumb]] In Other Spin-Offs Zingers would make various spin-off appearances since. Some appear in ''Donkey Konga as cameos. In DK: King of Swing and DK Jungle Climber, they return as enemies. In Donkey Kong Barrel Blast, Zingers are basic enemies that fly around, and only take one hit to kill. Other Appearances "Donkey Kong Country" Comic In the Club Nintendo comic "Donkey Kong Country", Zingers appear again as an enemy of Donkey and Diddy Kong. Much like in the games, the Zinger is docile and does not rapidly attack the pair until Donkey Kong provokes the wasp. Donkey defeats the Zinger, by doing a special rolling move and then kicking the enemy, despite direct contact with it without getting hurt by its stingers not possible in other games. The Zinger can talk as well, saying it's stinger is deformed. ''Super Smash Bros. Brawl'' Their latest appearance was a sticker cameo in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, where it raises resistance to slashing attacks by five points. Gallery Artwork File:ZingerDKC.jpg|''Donkey Kong Country'' File:Zinger-cartoon.jpg|In the Club Nintendo comic File:Zinger-DKC2.jpg|''Donkey Kong Country 2'' File:King zing.jpg|''DK King of Swing'' File:ZingerDKKingSwing.jpg|''DK: Jungle Climber'' Screenshots File:Donkey Kong Racing - DK and Taj on Zingers.png|''Donkey Kong Racing'' (canceled) Zinger.JPG|In Donkey Kong 64 Sprites File:Zinger-sprite.PNG|''Donkey Kong Country'' (SNES) Zinger (yellow).gif|''Donkey Kong Country'' (SNES) (yellow) Zinger (orange).gif|''Donkey Kong Country'' (SNES) (orange) File:Zinger-dkc2-sprite-yellow.PNG|''Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest'' (yellow) File:Zinger - DKC2 (yellow).gif|''Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest'' File:Zinger-dkc2-sprite-red.PNG|''Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest'' (red) File:Zinger - DKC2 (red).gif|''Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest'' (red) Trivia *Zingers are placed in the "Lazy Landlubbers" class enemies in Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest. "Lazy Landlubber" in pirate-talk would translate to "Lazy Land Lovers", despite being a flying enemy. Buzzes, however, would later being placed in the "Flying Fiends" class. *In DKC 2, it is interesting to note that the three Zingers flying around Krazy Kremland on the overworld map of Crocodile Isle are identical to those from the first DKC game instead of DKC 2's new design. **In the beta version of DKC 2, Zingers had their old appearance from the first Donkey Kong Country game. This was later changed, except for the aforementioned Zingers on the overworld map and all young Zingers seen with their heads and legs poking out of their honeycombs in the hive levels. *Zinger is one of the few regular enemies in the Donkey Kong Country series to have more than one boss form: Queen B. and King Zing. *Despite having large stingers, contact with any part of its body will hurt a Kong. Only King Zing actually uses a stinger based interaction. References de:Zinger es:Zinger pt:Zinger Category:Donkey Kong Country Category:Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest Category:Donkey Kong Land Category:Donkey Kong Land 2 Category:Lazy Landlubbers Category:Aerial Enemies Category:Species Category:Enemies Category:Kremling Krew Category:Villains Category:Donkey Kong Country Enemies Category:Donkey Kong Country 2 Enemies Category:Donkey Kong 64 Enemies